Baghdad-INA
Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi said on Wednesday that he had advised U.S. President Donald Trump against launching a military strike on Iran, stressing that negotiations are the most important path forward, he also expressed his readiness to bear the consequences of his reform agenda.
Al-Zaidi said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine, as monitored by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that Iraq's relationship with the United States should shift from a military-based one to an economic partnership, stressing that "it is the economy that builds ties between peoples, not a military presence."
He added, "I advised President Trump against launching a military strike on Iran because negotiations are the most important course of action," noting that "Iraq should serve as a point of convergence, not an arena of hostility, between the United States and Iran."
He continued, "We have no choice but to confine weapons to the state and hand them over to it," stressing his "rejection of turning Iraq into a failed state, and the government is proceeding with combating corruption and strengthening the authority of the state."
He stressed that "economic development and job creation are the true path to stability, because a citizen who has a future will not resort to war or sectarianism."
He explained, "I discussed establishing a 30-year investment partnership between Iraq and the United States, based on investment and technology rather than a military presence."
He stressed that "the recent war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have inflicted significant losses on the Iraqi economy," calling on "investors to view Iraq as a promising investment opportunity."
The Prime Minister expressed his readiness to bear the consequences of his reform agenda.